Category Archives: Chapter 6

What kind of cancer was it? And why do we care?

If you’ve been following the recent series of deaths in the entertainment world, you likely noticed that both Alan Rickman and David Bowie died of cancer.  What kind? The otherwise very specific obits did not mention that fact. The Washington … Continue reading

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

What happened to the missing 18 minutes of the Lost finale on Netflix? The version of the controversial Lost finale currently streaming on Netflix is missing 18 minutes scattered throughout the episode, and show runner Damon Lindelof wants those minutes back. It doesn’t … Continue reading

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Looking back at the Unabomber and the Washington Post

What has been the lasting lesson of the Washington Post publishing the Unabomber’s manifesto? Twenty years ago the Washington Post published a long and rambling manifesto written by a terrorist known as the Unabomber.  The Unabomber said he would send another package … Continue reading

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Telling Data-Driven Stories

This morning our Comm students at University of Nebraska at Kearney were fortunate enough to have a virtual class visit from Dr. Jan Boyles from the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University.  She talked with us about some … Continue reading

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Rachel Maddow Praises Local Journalism

Regardless of how you feel about Rachel Maddow’s progressive politics, one thing about her and her MSNBC show that I think we can all admire is the degree to which she pays attention to and praises local news.  She and … Continue reading

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Reporting a cable/internet outage via cable

I’m at home tonight trying to get work done to get ready for the semester that starts Monday, and the internet is not working well.  As I’m being frustrated, I see tweets flow slowly in, including one from my local … Continue reading

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Editorializing on the Cover of the NY Post

Say what you like about the New York Post, they have done some magnificent photo illustrations over the years on their cover as editorial commentary.  I don’t often agree with the Post, but they do great covers. Obama and “Islamic … Continue reading

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Some great blogs from my students

This last week my blogging and commentary student Austin Koeller wrote a state editorial I was pretty happy with.  He argued that U.S. Senator Deb Fischer was betraying her conservative supporters in north central Nebraska by supporting construction of the … Continue reading

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A Rough Week For Journalism Part 2: Remembering Bob Simon

Last week was a really rough week for the journalism world.  We lost two prominent journalists to unexpected deaths, we’ve had a respected news anchor suspended for six months for misrepresenting his participation in stories, and we’ve learned that our most … Continue reading

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A Rough Week For Journalism: Remembering the NYT’s David Carr

UPDATED 2/17/15 This has been a really rough week for the journalism world.  We’ve lost two prominent journalists to unexpected deaths, we’ve had a respected news anchor suspended for six months for misrepresenting his participation in stories, and we’ve learned … Continue reading

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